Hogwarts Express
The Hogwarts Express is the name of the train that makes a run between London, King's Cross Station Platform 9¾ and Hogsmeade Station. It makes this run at about six times a year, maybe more, as needed. It carries students to Hogwarts Castle at the start and end of every term. The train leaves Platform 9¾ without fail on 1 September at 11 o'clock in the morning, arriving at Hogsmeade Station in the early evening. Some students take the train back to King's Cross Station to go home for the Christmas and Easter holidays, but some don't, as they stay at Hogwarts. It also makes the run back again to London at the end of term in June. History The Hogwarts Express was originally built by the Muggle engineers at Crewe, in Cheshire, England, as a Hall Class steam locomotive, in the early-to-mid 19th century. Sometime in between 1819 and 1849, Ottaline Gambol rose to the office of Minister for Magic, and she made a daring and controversial suggestion to solve the ages-old problem of how to transport hundreds of students to and from Hogwarts Castle every school year without attracting the Muggles' attention: intrigued by the Muggle technology, the Minister saw the potential of using a train as a secure and comfortable alternative to Portkeys or to unregulated means of travel. The Ministry of Magic conducted a large-scale operation involving one hundred and sixty-seven Memory Charms, as well as the biggest Concealment Charm ever performed in Britain, in order to acquire the locomotive. The morning after this operation, the residents of Hogsmeade awoke to find the gleaming red Hogwarts Express and a railway station that had not been there previously, and the Muggle railway employees in Crewe had the feeling they had misplaced something, which stayed with them for the rest of the year. There was initial resistance from pure-blood families against using a Muggle-built device for wizard transportation (which, they claimed, was "unsafe, insanitary and demeaning"), until the Ministry decreed that students would arrive to school on the train or not attend at all. It was on the Hogwarts Express that Harry first got to know Ron Weasley in 19911, and first met many of the other people who played significant roles in his life, including Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Fred and George Weasley and, in later years, Remus Lupin and Luna Lovegood. The second confrontation between Harry and Draco Malfoy occurred on the train on the way to Hogwarts when Draco sneered at Ron and offered Harry his friendship. Harry turned down Draco's offer abruptly, marking the beginning of a long-standing enmity and hatred between the two boys. It was on the Hogwarts Express that Harry had his first encounter with a Dementor in 1993. In 1996, Harry and others were invited to a compartment occupied by Professor Horace Slughorn. In 2016, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione took their children to Platform 9¾ where they boarded the train to leave for Hogwarts. Description In striking contrast to Britain's National Rail system, the Hogwarts Express takes the form of a large red, 4-6-0 steam engine. Originally steam fitted by the Muggles who built it, the Hogwarts Express now runs exclusively on magic. The passenger carriages hold compartments set off a corridor, allowing each compartment to function as a self-contained stage within the larger train. During the long journey to Hogwarts, students may enjoy treats from a trolley, such as Pumpkin Pasties and Chocolate Frogs. There are usually no adults aboard the Hogwarts Express except the witch with the tea trolley and the driver. Occasionally new teachers (namely, Remus Lupin as well as Horace Slughorn) could be found aboard the train as well. Prefects of the school ride in a separate carriage near the front of the train. The compartments on the train appear to be lettered; in 1996, the Slug Club met in Compartment C.